Senior Thesis (THES 301, 401-403)
The culmination of a student’s work at Gutenberg College is the senior thesis. Each student is required to write a senior thesis comparing the ideas of two or more authors on a particular issue of the student’s choosing. Students will select their topic, advisor, and first author early in the spring quarter of their junior year. Students can begin researching and writing their thesis as soon as their topic is approved. With the help of an advisor, students develop bibliographies, and they are strongly encouraged to read works from their bibliographies during the summer between their junior and senior years.
A senior-thesis syllabus distributed to students in winter of their junior year helps each student complete his thesis in a timely manner. The deadlines include one paper each at the midpoint of the fall and winter quarters. The final thesis is due at the midpoint of the spring quarter. The first paper addresses the perspective of one of the student’s thesis authors and the second addresses the perspective of the student’s other author. The third paper combines the first two papers with a comparison of the two authors. Each student must defend his thesis before a panel of tutors. Senior theses are graded “pass,” “pass with distinction,” or “no pass.” Every student must write a passing senior thesis in order to graduate.